Going Home
by Uh.yeah
Summary: The Doctor comes to save Rose from the Daleks. A random, rambling story, from my state of denial. NineRose


Another story, direct from my dreamworld.

In my world, Christopher Eccleston will never leave Doctor Who and tomorrow's episode will go a little something like this….

(BBC owns it, you fool.

Spoilers to Bad Wolf)

* * *

"Rose!" 

Rose blinked and willed her mind to focus. She knew that the noise she'd just heard was important. Very important. And very familiar.

She shook her head trying to clear the dense fog that seemed to have gathered in her mind – and instantly regretted it. It hurt. A lot. She tried to shift position slightly but everything ached too much to get comfortable. The ground underneath her was cold and hard. _Stone_, she thought, vaguely.

"Rose!"

The sound came again, followed by the clattering of something heavy, and possibly metal, falling to the ground.

Rose risked opening her eyes to a slit, as she tried to get used to the sudden burst of light.

Groaning inwardly, she forced herself to look up and was confronted by the sight of a man in jeans and a leather jacket, hastening across the cell, towards her.

_The Doctor_, thought Rose briefly before the man reached her and sank down to his knees, pulling her into a tight hug.

Rose smiled weakly and leaned happily into him, trying to take as much strength and reassurance as she could.

"You took your time," she said thickly, struggling to get her tongue to work.

"There was some stuff I had to see to," he said gruffly, not releasing her, but hugging her even tighter.

Rose closed her eyes – she remembered now.

The Daleks had come back, hadn't they? She wasn't sure how they had. She just knew that one moment, she had been terrified of the Doctor being killed and of losing him, and the next minute, she'd woken up in a ship that looked not unlike the TARDIS.

For the first few groggy and confused moments, she'd been frantic; wondering about the Doctor and Jack. About whether her one act had saved them. Had spared them.

Then they'd come. The Daleks had surrounded her, forced her to walk, talking to her in their robotic voices. She wasn't sure what they'd being saying - her head hurt too much to concentrate on the sounds they made. The only thing she could think of was the Doctor. Where he was, if he was ok. Unless she knew where and how he was, she didn't care what the Daleks did to her.

She didn't think they were like the last Dalek. These ones had shown little signs of compassion or guilt as she had witnessed them destroy one other human – the only other human – who had failed to comply with their demands. Rose remembered the horror she'd felt and the sudden onslaught of memories from the last time they'd met the Dalek.

They'd marched her into the main control room. Rose had felt numb and shut off from everything around her. Impassive towards the Daleks and whatever they wanted to do to her. It was stupid; she wanted to tell herself to fight, to find a way out. To work it out like they always did in these situations. But something was different; something in her wasn't working like it was supposed to.

Then she remembered the sudden release; the sudden return of all her feelings and emotions as the screen had descended and she'd seen the Doctor's face staring into the room – staring at her. Her Doctor. His face, with the ears that were slightly too big, and the nose that was slightly too long, was there. And he was in control.

She had shivered as he'd made his speech – she'd felt the power in and behind his words. He wasn't just intimidating another enemy they met on their almost daily adventures. He was talking to an ancient enemy, with a hate that went deeper than anything she was likely to ever know. He was determined and had nothing to lose – except her. She'd seen it– felt it – in his last line to her. The emotion underneath was there for her to see and there for her to take. It wasn't a full confession of love, but to her, it was good enough.

She'd almost cried out as the screen had gone blank. She'd wanted to reach out and grab for him – bring him back. But she hadn't. He'd said he was coming to get to her and so she believed him. She didn't know how the hell he was going to manage it, but she trusted him.

She'd gained hope and strength. Had started listening to the Daleks, looking for ways out, for weaknesses. Her mind had gone into alert mode. She'd tried to subtly dig a little deeper into the psyche of these new Daleks. She'd talked and tried to find out if they were still capable of emotion. The answer had been non-conclusive, puzzling and varying.

Then, something at the back of the ship had exploded.

The Daleks had panicked and angrily begun rushing around, barking out fear-filled commands. The next thing Rose knew, another explosion was heard and a Dalek had pinned her back into a corner. Something had hit Rose squarely in the head, and she blacked out.

"Rose?" came the voice again, more urgent, but gently coaxing.

"Mmm?" she answered, groggily, pulling her head away from the Doctor's chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked, clearly, looking her searchingly in the eye.

"I'm fine," she answered weakly, but firmly.

He looked at her a little longer, his eyes intense and emotional.

"I thought…I…" his voice caught in his throat, "I thought I lost you," he finished in a whisper.

She lifted her arm and swiped him feebly in the shoulder, "takes a whole lot more than…this…to get rid of me, Doctor."

"I know," he said, grinning imperceptibly. He nodded at Jack across the room, "He's wasted no time."

Rose squinted over to the other side of the cell where Jack was freeing, and seemingly flirting, with other prisoners.

Rose grinned. She struggled to get to her feet, but collapsed as she tried to straighten out her left leg.

The Doctor steadied her, drawing her possessively into him.

"Take me home," she mumbled wearily into his chest.

Beneath her, the Doctor's body tensed and he drew back slightly so he could see her face.

"Home?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," answered Rose, "unless you want to hang around in this cell all day…"

He looked at her, his expression unreadable. His jaw had set and he looked like he was struggling to hold something back.

"Home." he said at last, in a strangled voice, "I know this has been awful and people have gone home for less than this but…" He stopped himself, "…let's just get you back to the TARDIS before we think about going home."

Rose blinked.

"What're you talking about? Let's go back to the TARDIS. Home."

"The TARDIS?" he asked, hesitatingly.

Rose nodded slightly and winced as it hurt. "Yeah, home." She narrowed her eyes at him, "Or is that too domestic a term for you?"

"Oh no," he answered, grinning properly, "I think I can live with that. Can you walk?"

Rose staggered uncertainly to her feet and gripped the Doctor tightly as she shuffled a few steps forward.

"Ah, bollocks to it," muttered the Doctor as he witnessed the pain flash across her face. "Come on," and he scooped her gently up and into his arms.

Rose lay back comfortably and surveyed the scene around her.

"What did you do to the Daleks?"

He frowned down at her. "We did what was necessary. But explanations can wait till you're better."

He picked up speed as he carried her out of the cell and Rose settled, closing her eyes.

"Jack," he called over his shoulder, "Bring those people with you; we're going."

He smiled down at the Rose that lay sleeping in his arms, as Jack led the people towards him.

"We're going home."

* * *

Once again, not sure it turned out quite right. 

But what do you lovely people think, hmmm? Please share your thoughts and criticisms…


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